Losses intensify in Indian markets during early noon deals

A heavy selling at TECK and IT counters pushed Indian markets in more losses during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading lower by around half a percent, amid negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders remained cautious ahead the release of inflation data from the US, Japan and Europe which could provide more clarity on the outlook for global interest rate moves. Some anxiety came amid a private report stating that India's GDP growth likely declined to 6.5 percent in October-December 2023 from 7.6 percent the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the statistics ministry will release GDP data for October-December 2023 on February 29. It will also release its second advance growth estimate for 2023-24 as a whole, as well as the first, second, and third revised estimates of growth for 2022-23, 2021-22, and 2020-21, respectively.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even as Singapore's industrial production expanded in January on the back of strong growth in the transport and precision engineering clusters. The data from the Economic Development Board revealed that industrial production rose 1.1 percent year-on-year in January, reversing a 2.4 percent decline in December. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72771.73, down by 371.07 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 72700.50 and 73092.26. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.92%, Capital Goods up by 0.73%, Power up by 0.56% and Industrials up by 0.38%, while TECK down by 1.44%, IT down by 1.40%, Metal down by 1.18%, Consumer Durables down by 0.71% and Realty down by 0.62% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.19%, Power Grid up by 2.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.72%, HDFC Bank up by 0.46% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.80%, Infosys down by 1.70%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.60%, Tata Steel down by 1.48% and JSW Steel down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam has said that the latest consumer expenditure survey indicates that poverty has come down to five per cent in the country and people are becoming prosperous both in rural and urban areas. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, released data on household consumption expenditure for the year 2022-23 which shows per capita monthly household expenditure more than doubled in 2022-23 as compared to 2011-12. 

Subrahmanyam said this long-awaited consumer expenditure survey has brought out many things. He said ‘with data on household consumption, we can assess what is the status of poverty in the country and how successful the poverty alleviation measures have been’. He said that for the purpose of the survey, people were kept in 20 different categories and the data showed that the average per capita monthly expenditure for all categories stood at Rs 3,773 in rural areas and Rs 6,459 in urban areas. The average per capita monthly expenditure of 0-5 per cent fractile class is pegged at Rs 1,373 in rural areas and Rs 2,001 in urban areas.

He said ‘If we take the poverty line and inflate it with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to today's rate, we see that the average consumption of the lowest fractional, the 0-5 per cent, is about the same. This means poverty in the country is there in the 0-5 per cent group only’. Citing the survey data, he said the increase in consumption both in rural and urban areas is about 2.5 times. This shows that the progress in the country is happening in both urban and rural areas.

He further said another significant takeaway from the survey findings is that consumption in rural areas is growing faster than in urban areas, thereby narrowing the gap and disparities are coming down. According to the survey data, the gap was 84 per cent in 2011-12 and has come down to 71 per cent in 2022-23. The gap was at its peak of 91 per cent in 2004-05. He said if the trend continues, it is possible that urban and rural incomes and consumption will be the same in the coming years. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22100.90, down by 111.80 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 22082.95 and 22202.15. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.27%, Power Grid up by 2.11%, Adani Enterprises up by 0.99%, SBI Life Insurance up by 0.89% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.77%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.85%, Hindalco down by 2.52%, Infosys down by 1.80%, Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 1.68% and Tata Steel down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 110.46 points or 0.66% to 16,615.40, Jakarta Composite plunged 13.19 points or 0.18% to 7,281.91, Straits Times fell 28.42 points or 0.89% to 3,156.49, Shanghai Composite weakened 28.52 points or 0.95% to 2,976.36 and KOSPI dropped 15.08 points or 0.57% to 2,652.62, while Taiwan Weighted added 58.86 points or 0.31% to 18,948.05 and Nikkei 225 surged 135.03 points or 0.34% to 39,233.71.